Others
by Kherezae
Summary: Series of loosely related AkuRoku oneshots. Assuming that Axel is Riku's Nobody, though I may not ever state it explicitly. CoM through the end of KHII timeline.
1. Axel

- **o**th**e**r**s** -

AkuRoku; standard 'not mine' disclaimer; these oneshots may be set during CoM or KHII (or in between the two) and may include spoilers. Reviews are love.

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- a**x**el -

The world was endless, eternal… and gray.

He was floating; he was nothing, floating in nothing.

Except nothing could not feel or think. Nothing was not a 'he'.

So what did that make him?

He _became_ slowly, so slowly he hardly knew what was happening. The gray deepened to black. Feeling seeped into his limbs… though when he'd gained limbs, he had no idea. The world was hard and dark… and damp. Rain made the air heavy. The smell was overpowering. Rain… and… hopelessness.

He pushed himself upright, slowly climbing to his feet, using the wall behind him for balance. Everything was dark… but the faintest glow teased at the edge of his sight. He felt stifled, enclosed; the hood. When he pulled the hood back, rain misted against his face, and the night was lit with the glare of neon light.

_Where am I?_ The alley was empty and silent but for the distant hum of the city lights. A better question pulled at his thoughts: _Who am I?_

The shadows shifted subtly—he almost didn't notice, but then there were forms blooming from the ground around him. Crafted of shadow. Their movements were jerking and erratic, their eyes luminous and hungry. And they were coming toward him. Alarm rang through his chest, setting his nerves afire.

Truly afire.

He felt the heat blooming, such a stark contrast to the cold, dark world around him, to the eerie shadow creatures leering at him. Icy tendrils of foreign thought crept into his mind, whispering, but the growing heat melted them away. His body screamed for the fight.

_Kill them._

He found weight in his hands, warm through his gloves. The mist of rain hissed faintly as it came into contact with the weapons, but the shadow creatures didn't falter.

They should have.

His weapons went spinning through them, the heat of the metal slicing cleanly through them and melting them away. The creatures were darkness, were ice. He was fire. "Fire!" His voice cut through the alley, harsh against the silence. His weapons, his chakrams, returned to him and flew away again, cutting through shadow after shadow, though a new one formed to take the place of each one he destroyed. The rake of the chakrams against the alley wall, the hiss of rain against his heat and fire, his breathing; these were the only sounds in the night. He was alone.

No.

The creatures finally dwindled away, and when his chakrams went silent, the clapping that echoed through the alley nearly startled him. "You're pretty good," a voice drawled. When he peered into the darkness, he could make out three figures clothed and hooded in black.

"What's your name?" a different voice asked, chilly and clear.

_What is my name?_ Even he didn't know. With a shrug of one shoulder, he replied, "Don't have one."

One of them—the first one—laughed.

"Who are you?" he asked them.

"The names are Xigbar, Vexen, and Zexion," the first voice replied, "and we're Nobodies. Like you."

"Nobodies," he repeated. It rang true. He was… nobody. Not quite nothing, but close enough that it hardly made a difference.

The second one, with his cold, articulate voice, said, "We could use someone like you in the Organization."

The 'Organization' was a rather pretentious name. Stupid, if you asked him. But these three seemed to know more about what the hell was going on than he did. "For what?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Becoming somebodies," a third voice said simply.

He tilted his head, playing with the thought. Being somebody was definitely better than being nobody. And he didn't know what he was going to do if he didn't go along with these three. Who knew if there was anyone else in this place? Not him. He didn't know much of _anything_. He gave a slow nod.

"That makes you number eight," the first voice told him.

"Choose a name," the chilly second voice added.

A name. Theirs were… Xigbar, Vexen, and Zexion. He remembered them, but that wasn't surprising; there was nothing else _to_ remember. But what to call himself? _Axel._ That fit well. A name.

"Axel."

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- y**o**ur fr**i**end**l**y **n**eig**h**borho**o**d kher**gasm** -

Yay. Both collections started. I hope they both don't have crappy starts. x_x; Next one-shot shall be, predictably, 'Roxas'.


	2. Roxas

- **o**th**e**r**s** -

AkuRoku; standard 'not mine' disclaimer; these oneshots may be set during CoM or KHII (or in between the two) and may include spoilers. Reviews are love.

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- ro**x**as -

Xemnas named the kid Roxas because he had no memories of his past—his whole—self. At first the Superior took great interest in Roxas, watching him often even though he never met the kid face to face… but over time his interest faded, and if Xemnas had had the heart to feel, Axel imagined that the Superior could have been described as disappointed.

But Axel felt drawn to Roxas, more and more even as Xemnas slowly began to ignore the kid. Before Roxas was found wandering in Twilight Town, they'd found Demyx and Luxord, all within the week after Axel joined the Organization. And after they found Roxas, Marluxia and Larxene were added to their numbers. It didn't take Axel long to realize that he was different from the others—and Roxas was even more different.

Everyone but Axel and Roxas had been found wandering with memories intact. They knew who they were, who they had been before they became nobody. Most of them chose their names just by rearranging the letters of their true names and adding an 'x'—Braig became Xigbar, Ienzo became Zexion. Saïx had given up his true name entirely. He wasn't that person anymore, he said, so he needed a new name altogether.

Axel still didn't know what his true name had been. He had no memories before becoming a Nobody, and in bleaker moments he caught himself wondering if he had ever been someone to begin with. But he'd never told the other Organization members that he couldn't remember being whole, and his past life had never been called into question.

Roxas, though… The kid seemed innocent, too innocent to be cooped up in the Castle That Never Was with the likes of them. He was openly confused about why he couldn't remember who he had been… before. And he was lost. Even among Nobodies he didn't belong. He lived with the Organization, but he wasn't a part of it. He was just a kid; he had no weapon, no powers.

Funny how Axel could feel lonely even without a heart. He hadn't even realized he could feel lonely until he met Roxas, because in that instant the loneliness fled, and its absence was more conspicuous that its presence had been.

"Xaldin found this kid in Twilight Town," Demyx explained the first time Axel saw Roxas. "He doesn't remember anything about who he was, but the Superior named him Roxas."

Axel looked the kid over, grinned, and said, "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

It didn't take them long to become friends, or as close to friends as Nobodies could be. Roxas liked visiting Twilight Town, and Axel would take him there when he could. Occasionally they would wander the streets of the World That Never Was, but more often they could be found on the beach in Twilight Town. Roxas seemed content on the beach, staring out over the ocean. Sometimes when Axel stared out over the ocean with him long enough, it gave him a sort of chill… but usually he felt at home on the beach with Roxas.

After not quite a month, the only time Axel couldn't be found at Roxas' side was when the Superior had him off on some mission. The missions didn't seem to have much of a purpose—supposedly they were finding a way for the Organization to become whole again, but Axel couldn't see how the missions had anything to do with getting a heart. And the one the Superior had been hinting about lately… it would mean being away from Roxas for who knew how long in some castle Xemnas was building. He'd be stuck there with Larxene, Marluxia, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion.

Which was bad enough without Larxene following him and Roxas out into the World That Never Was.

Axel wouldn't peg her as a people person. Quite the opposite; the only reason she enjoyed being around people was to hurt them. Which generally meant that she left Axel alone, since he was content to ignore her most of the time. She had more fun with Demyx than most of the other Organization members.

"What do you want, Larxene?" he asked, rolling his eyes at Roxas, who quirked the tiniest half-grin in response.

"It seems we're going to be working together soon," she pointed out, her steps splashing quietly through the alley. For once it wasn't raining, but the ground was still puddled with water. "I wanted to get to know you a little better first."

"Not likely," he replied with a sarcastic smirk. "You know me well enough already. Why don't you go bother Demyx?"

She shook her head, chuckling quietly. "If I mess with him too much, he'll get used to it!" she pointed out. "Besides, he isn't going to be at the castle with us, so I'm going to have to get used to having just you, Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, and Marluxia around."

"What castle?" Roxas asked.

Before Axel could respond, Larxene cut in with, "Oh, I'm sorry, only big kids get to know about Castle Oblivion."

"I'm not a little kid," Roxas retorted with a glare.

"Could have fooled me!"

Axel had a sinking suspicion that it had been Roxas all along that Larxene intended to mess with. He grabbed her by the forearm, shot an "Excuse us for a minute" Roxas' way, and dragged her further down the alley. She pushed him away instantly, her expression clearly saying, _Don't touch me!_ "Leave Roxas alone," Axel warned her.

A grin spread slowly across her face. "Oh, you mean I've found something that pisses Axel off?"

"Shut up." Yes, she had.

"…Axel…"

Roxas' voice made him turn away from Larxene to look back down the alley. Heartless were forming all around the kid, focused on him, leering; they rarely attacked Nobodies, since they were attracted to the hearts that Nobodies were missing, but it did happen occasionally. Like when Axel arrived in the World That Never Was. Like now.

"Hold on, Roxas"—

But he'd only moved a step toward Roxas when a weapon formed in the kid's hand. Shaped like an oversized, black-wrought key.

A keyblade.

And for never having summoned the thing before, for never having fought before, Roxas cut through the heartless like they were nothing, the black of the keyblade blending into the darkness seamlessly.

Axel and Larxene just watched, stunned, for a while, but for every heartless Roxas cut down, two more formed from the shadows. And unlike when Axel had first fought the creatures, they just wouldn't stop coming. Even when he and Larxene joined the fight, chakrams and throwing knives, fire and lightning, the heartless kept swarming from the shadows.

Breathing hard and fast, Axel finally created a dark portal, shoving Roxas and Larxene toward it. With one last glance back out over the heartless, something in his head clicked. Roxas. The Superior had named him Roxas… because he was Sora's Nobody. Sora, the keyblade master.

Roxas.

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- y**o**ur fr**i**end**l**y **n**eig**h**borho**o**d kher**gasm** -

Don't worry, I don't plan to overuse his whole 'Got it memorized?' thing… but he can't very well introduce himself without it. x_x;


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